Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 216: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will make a statement on the new Health Service Executive report which suggests that the number of patients on hospital waiting lists has increased by nearly 10% owing to staff and bed shortages and that this report has come nearly four years after she declared overcrowding in hospital emergency departments a national crisis; and the action she will take regarding the situation. [14202/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I understand that the report to which the Deputy refers is an internal HSE document.

The provision of public hospital services and the management of waiting lists generally is a matter for the Health Service Executive (HSE) while the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) has statutory responsibility for the collation, management and publication of data on waiting times and numbers of persons waiting for surgical procedures.

Since the establishment of the NTPF, waiting times for surgical procedures have fallen dramatically. As of October 2007, an analysis of the Patient Treatment Register (PTR) operated by the NTPF indicated median waiting times as follows:-18 of Adult top 20 procedure wait times were 2 to 4 months;8 of Child top 10 procedure wait times were 2 to 5 months: andan overall median wait time for all specialties of 3.5 months.

The PTR showed a consistent pattern of reduced waiting times for those longest waiting. For example, as of October 2007, the numbers of adults waiting for more than 12 months had reduced by almost 22% when compared with the position at the end of December 2006.

With reference to hospital Emergency Departments, significant additional resources have been provided to address the problems which manifest in these Departments. Among the developments which have taken place are:

Additional public and private Long Stay Beds,

Additional Home Care Packages and Home Help Hours,

Major capital developments in emergency departments and the provision of Acute Medical Assessment Units,

Hospital-in-the-Home service in the greater Dublin area,

Community Intervention Teams in Cork, Limerick and Dublin,

Rapid assessment clinics to support the catchment population of the Mater Hospital, and

Expansion of the GP out of hours services in North Dublin.

However, there are a number of hospitals where waiting lists and waiting times for surgical procedures continue to be unacceptably long. The NTPF continues to seek the co-operation of these hospitals in making referrals to it.

As the management of waiting lists generally is a matter for the HSE, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Department of the Executive to arrange to have a reply issued direct to the Deputy in the matter.